Category:Ancient Bridge

Our 'Ancient Bridge' category includes any bridges considered to have been constructed within the Angkor or pre-Angkor period. Many of these bridges had probably been around for a long while before, (perhaps in wooden form), but most of the laterite ones we see today, scattered along the vast Angkor road network, are considered to date from the Jayavarman VII period.

The bridges consist of narrow corbelled arches, occasionally - in the case of Spean Kampong Kdei - lined with naga balustrades. Since, traditionally, any non-religious structure should be built of perishable materials only we're not quite sure how Jayavarman VII justified the use of laterite and sandstone. The aforementioned, impressive Spean Kampong Kdei and Spean Thma (Nokor Thom), (or Thmor), near Prasat Ta Keo (Siem Reap) are the most frequently seen ones today. The former was an integral part of national highway number 6 until a bypass road was constructed relatively recently.

For size classification we consider "Small" bridges to be up to 20m long, "Medium" bridges to be between 20-40m long and anything longer than 45m is classified as a "Large" bridge.

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  Spean Kompong Kdei in the dry season

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  Spean Kompong Kdei in monsoon season